Elysium Xibalba
by AWildeRomantic
Summary: When Sam is diagnosed with cancer, Jack finds himself leading the team on an ancient and infamous quest to save her life, and he realizes that even if this quest takes him to the end of his life, at least it will mean she's at his side. JackSam
1. Diagnosis

A/N – This is a rewrite. I wrote and posted the original first chapter, then thought up a better way of starting this…Anyway, hope you enjoy, and reviews are always appreciated. Oh, and please feel free to correct me if I got any of the medical facts wrong, I'm not claiming to be an expert…

* * *

_Elysium – In Greek mythology, the part of the underworld where the spirits of the heroic and virtuous reside._

_Xibalba – "Place of Fear" In Mayan mythology, the underworld which is ruled by spirits of disease and death._

Chapter 1: Diagnosis

"No no, my point is the SETI people would probably just try to make friends with the goa'uld and end up getting blown up," Jack said loudly.

"Jack," Daniel rolled his eyes. "I think they'd be intelligent enough to realize the goa'uld are hostile."

Sam and Teal'c exchanged a look. Sam shook her head and took another sip of beer, letting her gaze wander around the rest of the crowded bar. It was late on a Friday night and the team had just gotten back from a particularly long and boring mission to a swamp planet that had left them all smelling like sewage and desperate to do something fun.

"Well, whatever, I still don't think the program should just suddenly go public." Jack muttered into his glass.

They lapsed into companionable silence then, until Daniel glanced over and saw Sam rubbing the bridge of her nose with a pained expression. "Hey, you ok?"

"What? Yeah," Sam smiled. "Just a headache."

"This place can do that to ya," Jack glanced at his watch. "It's getting pretty late, though, maybe we should head back home."

They all stood up and grabbed their coats from the backs of their chairs, sorting out who was paying for what before heading towards the door.

"Teal'c and I are heading back to the base tonight," Daniel said as they walked out into the parkinglot.

Jack gave him a look. "Why? Don't you wanna go home, put your feet up and watch the hockey game?"

"Uh, no. I'd much rather get back to translating those Phoenician tablets they found on P9X-256." Daniel replied, pulling his keys out of his pocket.

"Whatever floats your boat. Carter, you need a ride home? Or are you gonna go back to the base too?"

"No, a ride would be nice." They waved goodbye to Daniel and Teal'c, then Sam followed Jack over to his truck. As she climbed into the passenger seat Sam was reminded exactly why she preferred small cars and motorcycles…Her head throbbed again and Sam closed her eyes.

"You sure you're alright?" Jack asked, sounding concerned.

Sam waved her hand dismissively as he started the car. "I'm fine, sir, really. I'll just take some Tylenol when I get home."

"Okay…" Jack pulled out of the parking lot and started off in the direction of Sam's house.

They rode in silence, Sam with her eyes closed and a slightly uncomfortable expression on her face. Jack was frowning thoughtfully at the road, thinking about nothing of real importance except that night's hokey game. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam slump forward, her whole form going limp.

"Carter?!" Jack cut the steering wheel sharply to the right, pulling the car up along side the car and turning to face Sam, shaking her shoulder. Seconds later Sam's eyes opened slowly and she squinted at him.

"Nynnn…sir…what happened?"

"Dunno…" Jack's eyes were wide as he pulled his gloves off to feel Sam's forehead. "You just passed out for a minute there. How's the head?"

"Still hurts." Sam bit her lip. "I feel really weird."

"Ok." Jack reached across her to the glove compartment, opening it to take out his cell phone. "I'm gonna call Fraiser and tell her I'm bringing you in. You think she's still at the base?"

Sam squinted at the clock on the dashboard and shook her head. "No. She's probably on her way home."

Jack nodded and dialed Janet's number, keeping a close eye on Sam as he did so. She seemed more worried than pained now and leaned to the side against the door, still chewing her lip.

* * *

"Ok, so what happened now?" It was fifteen minutes later and Sam was sitting on one of the infirmary beds while Janet checked her over. Jack stood nearby, arms folded over his chest.

"We were driving home and Carter just went all limp and lost consciousness."

"Sam?" Janet looked back at her friend. "Have you been experiencing any other symptoms? Headaches? Nausea? Disorientation?"

"Headaches."

"When did they start?"

"Earlier today. Before we came back." Sam thought a moment. "And right before I passed out I was feeling kinda strange."

Janet frowned. "Strange? You mean like dizzy, lightheaded or something else?"

"Not dizzy…I can't describe it, really."

"Okay…" Janet flipped to a new page on her clipboard and jotted something down. "I'm just going to run a few tests, see if we can figure out what happened here."

"You don't think I just fainted?"

"I don't know." Janet patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Lets just run these tests and see what we come up with."

Jack looked down at Sam as she sat back in the bed. "While Doc does that I'm going to go find Danny and T, ok? I'll be back in a little bit." Sam nodded, not looking at him.

Jack found Daniel in his office and Teal'c in the exercise room. They both seemed concerned, but Jack told them he'd relay the results from the tests as soon as Janet had them. Finally he headed up to Hammond's office, where the general was just getting ready to head home for the night.

"Is Major Carter going to be alright?" Hammond asked, concerned as Jack walked with him to the elevators.

"No idea, sir," Jack said. "Between you and me Fraiser seemed a little worried, which obviously isn't a good sign."

Hammond scowled. "Well, call me when we know what's wrong."

"Yes sir." Jack stood for a moment, staring at the elevator doors long after they'd closed behind Hammond, before punching the down button to head back to the infirmary.

Janet was in her office when Jack got back downstairs and she beckoned him in. "We got the test results back."

"And?" Jack sat down, noting with worry the slight furrowing of the doctor's brow.

"And…they indicated that she suffered a mild seizure back there." Janet shuffled some papers around. "We're getting ready to run an MRI and CT scan to try and figure out the cause. But as of now I don't know what it is."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Doc, you're worried about something."

"Well of course I'm worried," Janet said. "But Sam's been complaining about headaches more often than normal lately and she's also been loosing weight. Not dangerously but enough to notice."

Jack scowled and leaned backwards so he could see out into the infirmary where a nurse was prepping Sam for the scans. "What do you think it means?"

"That's what we're running the tests for, colonel." Janet replied. "Seeing as no one else has shown similar symptoms I'm going to assume that this isn't something that happened to her off world. However, I'm not ruling out the possibility."

"Hammond wants to know when you figure it out."

Janet nodded. "I'll give him a call." She got to her feet, and Jack followed suit. "This is going to take a while, colonel, so if you want to head home…"

"Nah, I think I'll stay here. I'll just be in Danny's office or my quarters."

"Alright, I'll let you know when we find anything."

"Great." They walked back out into the infirmary, and Jack briefly made eye contact with Sam, noting the worry in her eyes and giving her what he sincerely hoped was a reassuring smile.

* * *

"Primary central nervous system lymphoma. It manifests through deep tumors in the brain and usually occurs in patients with diseases like AIDS," Janet explained to the group before her. "But recently the population of immunocompetent patients - those without aids - has been increasing."

"The type of lymphoma I had was similar to that," Jacob Carter said from where he sat to his daughter's right. "I didn't think it was genetic."

"It isn't," Janet said. "But your family very well could have some genetic condition that makes you predisposed to developing it."

"And you're sure that's what Major Carter has?" Hammond asked, folding his hands and frowning.

Janet nodded sadly. "Positive, sir. It's what all the tests indicated and the symptoms she's been showing are some of the common ones of PCNSL."

"So what's the cure?" Sam asked. She'd been staring down at the table the whole time, shoulders hunched slightly.

"As of now…" Janet said quietly, her voice almost shaking. "There isn't one. There are treatment plans that can extend survival to four years if we're lucky…radiation and IV methotrexate…But other than that there aren't many options, I'm sad to say…"

"Tok'ra symbiote?" Jack said, but Jacob shook his head.

"There aren't any free." He shot his daughter a sad look. "I would gladly give her Selmak but he doubts that even if he was young he'd be able to do anything for her."

Jack glared at Jacob. "Healing device? Sarcophagus?" Jacob shook his head again. Jack slammed his fists down on the table. "Damnit there's got to be something we can do!"

"Colonel, calm down." Hammond said forcefully.

"Excuse me for getting a little worked up about this, general! But she's too important to lose!"

Sam looked up at him. "Sir, please…don't…"

Jack sighed and sat down, slowly. "I'm sorry, Carter."

"I will talk to the other tok'ra," Selmak rumbled. "I can see if they know of anything that could help Samantha."

"Thank you," Janet said, giving him a weak smile. "Right now, however I think the best thing is for us all to get some rest. It's been a long night."

They all nodded in agreement and stood, slowly filtering out of the room. Janet remained behind with Sam and Jacob.

"I'm so sorry, Sam…" she said, walking over and pulling her friend into an embrace.

"It's not your fault," Sam murmured.

Janet sighed, stepping back. "I know but…" she shook her head. "If there's anything I can do."

"Some pain killers might be nice. My head still hurts."

"Ok. Just come down to the infirmary with me." Janet turned to Jacob. "Are you staying on base for a while or heading back?"

Jacob glanced at his daughter. "I might as well stay for a bit."

"Good." Sam whispered, walking over to hug her father.

Each member of SG-1 retreated to their corner of the base to digest the information. Daniel found himself pulling books at random off the shelves of his office, as if in the vain hope that one might contain an answer. He knew he was tired, but also knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep, so for the rest of the early morning hours he just kept filling and refilling his coffee cup.

He was sitting at the table, staring down at the Phoenician tablets he'd been translating when there was a light knock on the door. "Oh…Jacob. Hi come in."

Jacob walked over. "Selmak wanted to talk to you about something…it's got to do with Sam."

"Oh?"

"I am sure, Dr. Jackson," Selmak said. "That you've heard of the tree of life or the world tree?"

"Yes…different myths from all around the world contain references to something like that…ancient mayans, Egyptians, even the Bible…"

"It will come with little surprise to you, then that such a thing exists."

Daniel scooted to the edge of his chair, eyes widening. "Really?"

Selmak nodded. "Yes. Though no one in the history of this galaxy has been able to reach the tree. According to the Tok'ra lore and what we know from the writings of the Ancients it is located at the center of the universe and supposedly the origin of everything in existence."

"The center of the universe?" Daniel raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Has anyone actually ever been there?"

"Ancients, yes." Selmak said. "They supposedly left behind instructions for finding the tree. A legendary journey that most fail on." He looked at Daniel pointedly. "Many, I'm sure, would not believe that mere humans could ever make the journey. But I have faith in you."

Daniel stared at the tok'ra, disbelieving for a few moments. "You really think that's what we could do to save Sam? Go chasing to the center of the universe?"

"What other options are there?" Selmak said. "Short of letting her become a goa'uld and praying that that somehow saves her?"

"I was thinking…if we could get our hands on a sarcophagus…"

"Dr. Jackson." Selmak shook his head slowly, as though he were putting up with a child. "Do you realize how many times she would have to use the sarcophagus to be healed properly? The damage that would cause alone would probably be equal to that which the disease is causing."

"Yeah, but the _tree of life_…?" Daniel made a helpless gesture with his hands.

Selmak sighed. "Have you heard of the planet Dakara?"

"I think so…that's where the Jaffa were first implanted with their symbiotes, right?"

"Yes. It's sacred to both goa'uld and Jaffa, and heavily guarded. However, it is also the location from which the Ancients seeded all life in this galaxy. There is a library there, with books that detail the journey necessary to reach the tree."

"And you think we should go check it out?"

"Yes." Selmak nodded. He closed his eyes, dipping his head slightly. When he raised it again, it was Jacob who spoke.

"Daniel, he wouldn't have suggested it if there wasn't chance of it working."

"Yeah, I just think the others are going to have a hard time buying this." Daniel said.

Jacob nodded in agreement. "I know. That's why we wanted to tell you first. But, Daniel, it's not as far fetched as it might seem. And you of all people should know that you guys are capable of conquering all odds."

"Yeah." Daniel took off his glasses and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. "I want to save her. Jack was right, we can't lose her."

"I know. She's my daughter."

Replacing his glasses, Daniel looked up at Jacob. "I'll go talk to them. At least we could go check out the books on Dakara. Maybe they'll have some answers."

"It's always a start."


	2. Wires and Tomes

Chapter 2: Wires and Tomes

Jacob had been right about one thing, and that was that the others were highly skeptical of the plan. Teal'c arched his eyebrow, Jack stared at Daniel like he was crazy and Hammond looked confused.

"The tree of life?" Jack said. "I saw a movie about that. Doesn't it make you live forever if you drink its sap or something?"

"Well, different cultures have different interpretations of it…" Daniel sighed. "The point is, Selmak said that it actually does exist and it might be our best hope for saving Sam."

"I too have heard of such a thing." Teal'c put in. "It is legend among the jaffa. Supposedly a place not even the gods are allowed to go."

Daniel nodded slowly. "Selmak seemed to think it's doable."

"Yeah, well, Selmak thinks a lot of things are doable. He's a tok'ra." Jack grumbled.

Daniel turned to scowl at him, finally sick of having his plan shot down. "You're certainly sounding very pessimistic for someone who _claims_ he wants to help Sam."

"Hey!" Jack shouted. "I want to help Carter as much as you do, but I don't think finding this mystical tree is going to do that!"

"We can try, at least," Daniel's eyes widened in a disparate expression. "What other options do we have?"

Hammond spoke out, in an attempt to placate the two. "Dr. Jackson, you said there's an ancient library somewhere that has more information?"

"Yeah, on the planet Dakara. Teal'c knows about it." Daniel glanced to the large Jaffa for confirmation.

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded. "However the planet is heavily guarded by various goa'uld. It would be difficult to reach using the Stargate."

"So we'll get a ship," Daniel said. "Go in through the back way."

Hammond sighed, frowning slightly in a displeased way as he mulled over the plan. "And where are you going to get a ship from?"

"The tok'ra." Jack said flatly. "They have to give us one."

"Talk to them." Hammond said with a sharp nod. "Put together a solid, viable plan for carrying out this mission and I don't see why you shouldn't have a go. Dismissed."

"Thank you, sir." Jack said as they got to their feet. The colonel still had a scowl on his face and he seemed tense, though Hammond could hardly blame him.

While the other members of the team filed out of the room, Hammond touched Jack on the shoulder. "Colonel, come into my office. I'd like to have a word with you."

Jack nodded and followed him listlessly into the office, collapsing into one of the chairs. Hammond sighed heavily as he sat down.

"Jack, is there anything you'd like to talk about? Things that are bothering you?"

"Sir," Jack said slowly, picking at a spot on the arm of the chair. "I just found out that my second in command…scratch that, a very good friend of mine…has an incurable form of cancer. I'd say that there are a lot of things that are bothering me."

"It's hard to face, I know." Hammond said. "In my time I've seen more than a few of my friends pass away and it's hardest when you can't do anything about it."

Jack's eyes snapped up to his, hard and dark with an ever deeper scowl than before. "With all due respect, sir, I don't need a lecture about dealing with death!" he got vehemently to his feet, pushing the chair back. "Carter isn't going to die!" Shoving the chair back up against the desk Jack marched out without waiting for so much as a 'you're dismissed' or 'goodbye'.

He found Daniel and Teal'c in Daniel's office, sitting on stools, though they both got to their feet as Jack entered.

"Jack, I think we should –" Daniel began, but Jack cut him off.

"Don't say you think we should have a little talk because I just got one of those from Hammond!" he snapped, eyes flashing. "Why does everyone think I need help coping with death? I had to see my son die, and now I have to watch Sam die too and there's almost nothing I can do to help her! So stop trying to give me advice and start giving me ideas to help my friend!"

Daniel looked slightly affronted and took a step backwards. "I was just going to say that we should get ready to go as soon as possible. The tok'ra have a goa'uld cargo ship waiting for us, complete with identification codes to get us into Dakara."

"Oh." Jack appeared slightly abashed.

"Yeah. And while I was organizing that, Teal'c was filling Sam in on our plan," Daniel said. "She thinks it's a long shot, but worth trying."

"Yeah, well, anything that's a shot at all is worth trying." Jack was reaching for the phone. "I'll call Hammond and tell him we've got the ship."

* * *

The temple at Dakara with its tall stone edifices and towers was bathed in afternoon sunlight as they maneuvered the cargo ship to a landing pad in the back. Jack grumbled to himself; the heavy Jaffa armor they were all wearing was stifling and uncomfortable, though he kept reminding himself that he was doing this for Carter, and then it all seemed a little less difficult. 

Luckily this was a less crowded area and they were able to reach the temple unnoticed. Once inside with their serpent guard helmets on the three blended in perfectly with the other Jaffa, who didn't pay a moment's notice to them.

Teal'c seemed to know where he was going, so Daniel and Jack followed him through the maze of twisting corridors, deeper and deeper into the temple. They finally passed down a long torch lined hall and found themselves facing a pair of heavy wooden doors that bore some ancient writing carved into their surface.

"Library." Daniel murmured, his voice muffled by the helmet.

Teal'c nodded and pushed the doors open, and they all stepped inside. The room was large, what they could see of it, and smelled of musty paper and leather. It was also almost pitch black, so Jack backtracked and grabbed one of the torches from the hall, carrying it into the room as Daniel carefully closed the doors behind them.

After finding a couple of braziers along the wall and lighting them, the team got out of their armor and Daniel began moving about, examining the tall, crowded bookshelves. They were filled with thick, leather bound tomes and yellowing scrolls, all bearing the familiar block like ancient writing.

Under normal circumstances Daniel could have spent hours, even days reading up on his Ancient history and slowly devouring each book, page by page. But he didn't have the time now, and so he hurried along, reading titles and tossing irrelevant books and scrolls aside until he finally came up with a thick, leather bound volume that had been tucked away in a far corner.

Blowing dust off the cover, Daniel read the title. " The Tree of Life; an account of the wanderings of…" he frowned. "Can't read the name. Marcus something."

Jack, who had been sitting with his back against the wall perked up. "Is that what we're looking for?"

"It looks like it." Daniel flipped through the book, scanning the pages and nodding to himself. "Yeah. This seems to be it. This Marcus guy was an Ancient who went on a quest to find the tree of life. There's an introduction by some scholar who says that Marcus was the first and he was able to chart it for the others. But…"

"There's a but?"

"The scholar also says that these 'others' only consisted of a handful of Ancients. Supposedly –" Daniel had to pause to sneeze loudly a couple of times. "Supposedly the journey is harder than ascending."

"Great!" Jack said, throwing his hands in the air. "Harder than ascending! That's just peachy!"

"O'Neill! Daniel Jackson!" Teal'c had been standing near the door and now he looked at them, holding his staff weapon up a little higher. "Someone has been alerted to our presence, I can hear footsteps."

Jack and Daniel both scrambled to grab their own weapons; no time to get back in their armor and try to bluff their way out. Seconds later the doors flew open and two Jaffa stood there, hours guards, their staff weapons trained on the three intruders.

One of the guards shouted something in goa'uld, but Jack and Daniel promptly zatted them both.

"Ok, kids, lets get out of here!" Jack said, rushing for the door. "Danny, you got the book?"

"Yeah." Daniel nodded, casting a wistful glance around the room, obviously wishing that he could have more time, or perhaps just a chance to take the rest of the books with him. But Teal'c and Jack were already out the door and Daniel had to follow them.

It took a little more stealth to get back to the ship; no one else had heard the staff weapons, it seemed, or no one else cared, but they still had left their armor back in the library and so had to stick to the shadows until they made it safely back to the cargo ship and up and away from Dakara.

* * *

"This…is going to be hard." Daniel said. 

"No kidding." Jack scanned the summary Daniel had written up of the book. "Nine gates, purity of spirit…I don't like the sound of that. A test of one's soul? What the hell."

"This sounds more like a religious document." Sam muttered.

It was the next afternoon and the team was gathered around the table in the briefing room, going over the book Daniel had found with General Hammond. Any doubts they'd had before were slowly coming back as they found out exactly what this journey would entail.

"Well it is a religious document in a way," Daniel said, shrugging at the skeptical look Sam was shooting him. "It's like the grandmother of all myths. But the author very clearly gives us the nine 'gate addresses that we need. Most of the book was about Marcus preparing for the journey, though the last couple chapters specifically describe the journey."

"Hmm…" Hammond frowned, flipping through the summary. "Doctor Jackson, what the book seems to give us is less of an actual description than I could have hoped for."

"Yeah." Jack nodded in agreement. "So he gives us 'gate addresses and tells us we need to be pure of spirit, that only those with a selfless cause will prevail. But he doesn't tell us what we need to _do_ exactly. Like is the tree just at this last planet? Because I kinda find it hard to believe that a jump through nine gates is gonna get us to the center of the universe."

"Colonel O'Neill is right," Sam said. "It isn't physically possible. There's got to be something that the book left out."

Daniel sighed. "He says that the journey leads itself. That we merely have to have the strength to keep on going and the path will be laid out before our feet."

"And there we go with the cryptic again!" Jack cried. "Have these people not heard of straight answers?"

"Doctor Jackson," Hammond said, waving aside Jack's outburst. "If we give you more time to study the document, do you think you could come up with more?"

"I can see." Daniel said. He was running his fingers over the edge of the book possessively. "But I won't be able to give you things that aren't there."

Hammond turned to Sam then, asking gently, "Major? How…much time do you have?"

Sam bit her lip, staring down at the table. "Janet's going to have to start treatment in the next couple days if we want to keep me around longer. She's going to do both the radiation and chemo here because she doesn't know how the naquadah in my blood will react and it would be too hard to explain it to a civilian doctor."

"Alright." The general looked back at Daniel. "Three days, would that be enough?"

"Sure, that would be plenty." Daniel nodded, standing up. "I'll go get started."

"Good. The rest of you are dismissed."

They all left the briefing room. Jack caught up with Sam in the hall, falling into step beside her. "Hey, Carter."

"Hi, sir." She sounded more listless than before they'd left, and Jack could see dark circles under her eyes. She was looking thinner, as well, and that worried him.

"How're you doing?" Jack asked quietly.

"Oh, I'm doing just fine," Sam said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I had another seizure while you guys were on Dakara…it was worse this time. Janet's put me on some medications to help but…" she shrugged. "There's only so much we can do."

Jack wanted, beyond anything, to just put his arms around her and hug her, reassure her that he would find a way to cure this. But it was virtually impossible to do that when he wasn't so sure of it himself. "So…radiation therapy. Doesn't sound like too much fun."

"Not at all." They'd stopped outside Sam's lab and she pounded one fist absentmindedly against the door. "I get a whole month of it. Five days a week." She waved one hand helplessly. "I'll be sick, tired, my hair'll fall out…and that's on top of what chemo's gonna do to me." She looked up at Jack, eyes wide, and he could have sworn she was on the brink of tears. "What's the point, sir? I'll be living four years instead of less than one, but I'll be miserable. Why even bother?"

"Sam…" he took a step closer to her. It was so strange to hear Sam talking like that. Usually she was so willing to accept technology and know it would pull her through, but here she was, so devoid of hope. "Jesus…come here." He held out his arms and Sam fell against him, resting her chin on his shoulder and closing her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her.

Had she always been that fragile?


	3. Fighter

Chapter 3: Fighter

If any of them had thought it would be easy, at least in the beginning, to start the journey, they were wrong. They'd all hoped it would be as simple a beginning as dialing the first gate address, but were severely disappointed when they couldn't get a lock.

"What's the problem?" Jack asked as he stood behind Walter's chair in the control room. A MALP stood ready on the ramp, but the gate was dark and still.

"We can't get a lock on the seventh chevron, sir." Walter said. "It's like there's something wrong with the gate on the other end, or this could be a bad address."

"Damnit!" Jack said loudly, turning to kick the wall behind him. This attracted several odd looks from the other technicians, but Jack ignored them. "How can we figure out what's wrong?"

Walter shrugged, shaking his head. "All we can do is figure out if it's a problem on our end by running a few diagnostics."

"Where's Carter when we need her?" Jack said, looking around.

Hammond was just coming down the stairs and walked over. "Major Carter is in Isolation Room C with Doctor Fraiser receiving the first of her radiotherapy."

Jack swore again.

Daniel and Teal'c had joined them by this time and Daniel stood next to Jack, arms folded over his chest. "What's the hold up?"

"The address you gave us isn't working, Daniel." Jack sneered.

"Uhh…" Daniel frowned. "It was the only one that we'd be able to reach from here. It has to be the first one."

"Well it isn't working!" Jack jabbed his teammate in the chest with one finger. "So get back to work and recheck to make sure you've got it right."

Daniel sighed, throwing his hands in the air in surrender before turning and marching back out of the control room. Jack sighed and turned to follow him as well, but Teal'c grabbed his shoulder.

"O'Neill."

"I'm going to go see how Carter's doing." Jack said, trying to shrug the Jaffa's hand off.

"I understand this is difficult for you, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "But we will find a way to save Major Carter."

"I know." Jack patted Teal'c's arm then turned away.

He found Janet in the observation bay of the isolation room. She was standing over an instrument panel and smiled briefly at him as he walked over to the window and looked down at Sam. She was laying flat and still on a bed, underneath a large machine that seemed to be aimed at a her head.

After a few minutes Janet stepped away from the control panel. "Colonel." She nodded in greeting.

"Hey, Doc." Jack nodded down in Sam's direction. "Is it safe to go in there?"

Janet nodded. "Yeah. Right now she's receiving external radiotherapy, so it doesn't cause her body to emit any radiation." She motioned for Jack to go first, then followed him down to the room where Sam was already sitting up and pulling her jacket back on.

"Yo, Carter, how'd it go?" Jack asked, walking over to her.

"Ugh…" Sam winced, pressing one hand to the side of her face. She looked at Janet through her uncovered eye. "This is really going to suck, isn't it?"

"I wish I could tell you that you'll feel better soon but…" Janet sighed. "The side effects tend to get worse."

"And then there's the chemo."

Janet nodded sadly. "And then there's the chemo. Can you stand up? Or should I have one of the nurses send in a wheel chair?"

"I can stand." Sam said, getting a little shakily to her feet. She turned to Jack. "How's the search coming? Did you send a MALP to the first address?"

"We couldn't get a lock on it. Walter thinks it might be a bad address so I sent Danny to make sure he gave us the right one."

Sam looked down at her shoes despairingly. "What if it doesn't work at all? Ever?"

"It'll work." Jack said, taking hold of her arm as they headed towards the door. "Don't you worry about it. We'll keep trying until we get a lock."

"Ok." Sam slowed as they reached the door, coming to a stop and still staring at her feet.

Jack looked over to Janet questioningly. The doctor had a pitying look on her face and jerked her chin towards Sam as though to say 'Do something'. Jack sighed.

"Sam, you're going to be ok," he said, unsure of what else he could tell her. Sam looked up at him and to his surprise leaned in and put her arms around him. Awkwardly he put his arms around her as well, being careful not to squeeze to tightly. "Come on, let's get you somewhere where you can sit."

* * *

Jack got more and more frustrated as the days, then weeks passed and none of the addresses that Daniel came up with worked. Watching Sam slowly get weaker and weaker from her various treatments was leaving him with the feeling that they were running out of time.

After two weeks of worrying about dealing with the ever-present hair loss, Sam finally gave in and shaved her head, taking to wearing a knit cap that Cassie had bought her. She managed to keep a cheerful face, even cracking a few jokes at herself, and all in all on the outside seemed to be dealing with it very well. But after finding her crying in her lab a couple times, the team soon knew better.

"I just…this is so hard…" She said despairingly to Jack and Daniel the fifth time this happened. She was sitting at her lab table with her face in her hands, fingers curled around the edge of her hat.

Daniel was standing behind her, sympathetically rubbing her back with one hand. Sam looked up at Jack. She had dark circles under her eyes and appeared much thinner and more gaunt than she had a few weeks ago.

Jack was pacing back and forth, trying to wear away the anxious feeling that seemed to cling to him. He looked over and caught Sam wiping her eyes again on her sleeve. "What about that…starry thing. Stellar whachamacallit."

"Stellar drift?" Sam looked at him blankly. "What about it?"

"Doesn't that affect whether gate addresses work or not?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, but the dialing program automatically compensates for that."

"Damnit." Jack sighed. "And we've tried dialing it from other planets…still can't get a lock."

Sam shook her head slowly. "I don't know what could be the problem then. Nothing's wrong on our end, and Daniel's sure the address is right. So unless the book was lying…"

"Sometimes I wonder if the Ancients are interfering somehow." Daniel murmured thoughtfully.

Jack craned his head back and shook one fist at the ceiling. "Alright, you ancient sons of bitches, unlock the stupid address! I'm ready to save my friends life already!" He was silent for a moment as though actually expecting some sort of response.

"Jack, I don't think that'd convince them to do anything." Daniel said.

"Damnit! I'm just sick of sitting here and watching Carter get worse and worse without being able to do anything!" Jack roared. Sam slouched down slightly in her seat.

Daniel looked between the two before his gaze finally settled on Jack. "Maybe you should go calm down a bit, Jack, this isn't helping."

"Nothing is helping!" Was Jack's reply. He scowled at Daniel then marched out of the lab. The control room was fairly empty when Jack got up there and he walked over to Walter who was tapping his hand on the console in a bored sort of way. "Walter, dial the address again."

Walter looked up at Jack. "Sir?"

"Just humor me."

With a shrug the tech sergeant began dialing the gate. The first six chevrons encoded, and Jack found himself holding his breath as it came to the last chevron. For a second it seemed that it would be like all the times before and wouldn't work, then suddenly the chevron lit up, locking into place.

"Chevron seven, locked." Walter said, grinning a little.

The wormhole stabilized. Jack rushed to the phone, first calling Siler to get a MALP up there asap, then calling Hammond and the rest of SG-1. Soon they were all gathered behind Walter, watching the screens as the MALP went through.

"Looks normal enough," Jack said as images of a forest appeared on the screen. "How are the readings?"

"They're fine, sir. Temperature is in the sixties, air breathable, no detectable radiation or harmful chemicals." Walter replied.

Jack turned to Daniel. "What'd the book say about the first planet?"

"Not much in the way of specifics," Daniel said with a shrug. "The book pretty much says that passing the planets is harder than it seems. I mean, you'd think we'd just have to dial the next address, but apparently there's going to be something else."

"We're approaching the 38 minute mark," Sam said. "The wormhole won't stay open."

"Ah, close it up, Walter." Jack said. "We'll just have to hope that it opens again."

They went up to the briefing room, then, where they were joined by Janet a few minutes later.

"So, what, is this cure going to be something you guys can bring back?" She asked.

Daniel fidgeted nervously in his seat. "Uhm, no, that's not how it seems to work. Sam's going to have to come with us."

"What?" Janet scowled. "Absolutly not. I wouldn't clear her for _normal_ gate travel in her condition, let alone some extended mission that's going to take you god knows where. If you were going by ship it might be a different matter."

"Janet, we have to bring her with us. That's the only way." Daniel said. "I'm not sure how this is going to work, exactly, but I do know that it isn't something we can just go and bring back with us. It's far more than that." Janet huffed at his words and turned to look at Hammond, who shrugged.

"I don't see what other choice we have, Doctor." Hammond had his hands clasped and a thoughtful expression on his face. "If they need to bring Major Carter along…"

"Then I'm going too." Janet said matter of factly.

The general's scowl deepened. "We'll have to see, doctor."

"Sir, I trust my medical staff to take care of things here while I'm gone." Janet said. " Dr. Werner is a very capable doctor. However, I wouldn't trust them with taking care of Sam. I know exactly what she needs, I know what to do if anything goes wrong…"

"There's also the chance that none of you will come back alive…" Hammond said, looking around at them.

"It is a risk we are willing to take for Major Carter's life." Teal'c replied solemnly.

Sam looked up. "Guys, you don't –"

"Carter!" Jack cut her off. "Don't argue with us. That's an order."

Sam gave him a rather watery, yet grateful smile and fell silent again.

"Well," Hammond said with a sigh. "I suppose the decision is going to be up to Colonel O'Neill."

"Sir, I would feel ten million times better if Doc Fraiser was with us."

"Thank you, Colonel." Janet said, smirking.

Hammond nodded. "Very well. You're all dismissed, plan to depart in two hours."

* * *

A little more than two hours later they all stood in front of the gate, laden down with packs of medical supplies in addition to the standard overnight gear. Sam's load was considerably less than the others, obviously, despite her insistences of not being treated differently. They held their breath as the gate dialed, releasing it as the seventh chevron locked.

"Ok, kids, ready?" Jack turned to look at them from his position at the head of the group. He locked gazes with Sam. "Hanging in there, Carter?"

"Yes, sir." Sam smiled determinedly.

"Doc, you ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Janet looked up at Sam, putting a hand on her arm and giving it a comforting squeeze.

Jack looked up to the control room, to Hammond, who gave them the go ahead. Motioning for the rest of the team Jack headed up the ramp, vanishing through the shimmering blue surface of the event horizon.

Back in the control room Walter looked to Hammond. "Sir, are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

"No more sure than I ever am, Sergeant." Was Hammond's reply.

* * *

They stepped out of the gate on the other side. Jack looked around as they walked over to the DHD and Daniel took out his notebook to get the next address.

"Nice place." Jack said. "Shame we couldn't spend more time here."

"Uhh…Colonel…" Janet said from behind Jack. "We might just be doing that..."

Jack spun around. His eyes fell on the battalion of Jaffa that had appeared out of seemingly nowhere and were now pointing staff weapons at the group. "Aww crap."


	4. One For All and All For One

A/N – Ack, my many apologies for the long wait on this chapter! jaffa bow I've just been having a slightly crazy time with school and family and stuff…But anyway, here's the next chapter….finally….oh and there's a bit of Dan/Jan in this one, so I hope no one's morally against that :P

And I feel that I may need to note Teal'c's sacrifice because I'm anticipating someone complaining about it...if you think it's slightly out of character...just remember that this is supposed to be a slightly surrealistic journey and it's only gonna get worse...bwhahahah...

* * *

Chapter 4: One for all, and all for one

"Tal'bet, Tauri!" The leader of the jaffa growled, advancing towards them.

"I guess fighting back at this point might be a bad idea," Jack said, slowly lowering his P90 to set it on the ground. Jaffa were coming out of the forest all around them, all bristling and pointing staff weapons in the direction of SG-1.

"Jack, we're so close…" Daniel murmured. "All we have to do is dial and –"

"Hey, fellas, look…here's the thing…" Jack said, taking a step forward. "I know you're probably not to happy to see us, but give us two seconds and we'll be outta your hair. We've just got to dial out."

"Do you take us for fools?" the leader asked, sneering. "You are SG-1. Out goddess will be most pleased when she hears that we have captured you."

"So that's a no, then…" Jack grumbled, turning to shoot an apologetic look at Sam.

Abruptly the Jaffa lifted their weapons, moving in to form a tight circle around SG-1. With a shout of 'kree' from the leader, they began marching forward, down a path and away from the Stargate. Sam cast a desperate glance behind them, and Janet reached up to put a comforting hand on her arm.

Ten minutes later they rounded a bend and found themselves in a huge clearing where a goa'uld mother ship was parked.

"You know what's going to happen now, Doc?" Jack said, turning to Janet with an overly cheerful grin.

"Oh enlighten me."

"They're going to drag us into the ship and force us to kneel before some chick in gold robes. She'll then inform us that we belong to her and throw us in a cell. Then we'll escape, run back to the gate, and we'll have the last laugh."

Next to him, Sam made a soft whimpering noise. "I don't know about you, sir, but I don't really feel much like laughing right now…"

"Carter?" Jack glanced at her, his expression worried. "What's wrong?"

"I don't…" Sam gripped Jack's arm. "I don't feel right…"

"Sam, did you remember to take your medication this morning?" Janet asked, slowing to turn and look at Sam. "I might have to increase your dosage, with these medications we can't….Sam!"

For Sam had abruptly collapsed, crumbling to a limp heap on the ground. Janet immediately dropped to her knees, feeling for a pulse.

"Keep moving!" One of the jaffa bellowed, not noticing that something was wrong as he prodded Janet with the end of his staff weapon.

"Hey!" Jack shouted. "Can't you see she's sick?!" He too knelt to assist Janet in whatever way he could.

"She's probably having another seizure…" Janet's voice was laced with a bit of panic as she pulled off her jacket, rolling it up and sticking it under Sam's head. Sam was twitching ever so slightly, not full convulsions but enough to be obvious.

"What is wrong with her?" The leader of the jaffa asked, looking confused.

Jack glared up at him. "She's sick, can't you see that?! We need to get her help!"

"Our goddess has a sarcophagus."

"That will not be of use." Teal'c said, speaking up for the first time. "We are on a mission to help Major Carter in the only way possible. Your goddess will be able to do nothing for her."

"She is a goddess." The Jaffa replied, scowling.

Jack looked down at Sam, who had fallen into a still unconsciousness by now. Janet was gently stroking Sam's hair, a faint frown on her face. Jack looked back up at the Jaffa.

"Just let us go, she doesn't even need to know about it." If Jack O'Neill had even had the briefest thought that he'd ever be pleading with some Jaffa, he would have laughed himself silly. And yet here he was.

The Jaffa glanced at each other, the leader wearing a confused frown on his face as he tried to decide what to do.

"Please." Jack sneered, feeling disgusted with himself.

Teal'c stepped forward suddenly, tilting his chin up. To the leader of the other Jaffa he said, "Take me to your goddess, and let my friends continue their journey."

"T, we're not going to leave you behind!" Jack protested.

"O'Neill," Teal'c turned, frowning. "Major Carter's life is far more important than my safety." He lowered his voice. "I will escape and return to Earth, as I have done countless times before."

Jack heaved a heavy sigh, looking down at Janet who was smoothing her hand over Sam's forehead. Sam now lay still and unconscious, sprawled on the ground.

"Sir…" Janet whispered, looking up at him with a worried expression. "We have to keep moving…if we want any hope of saving her…"

"Are these terms not acceptable?" Teal'c demanded of the Jaffa. "I am offering myself willingly."

"You are in no position to bargain, shol'va," the Jaffa replied, but nodded his head. "However, we accept your noble self sacrifice." He motioned for the others who quickly moved around Teal'c, leaving the others behind in the middle of the road as they continued. Teal'c shot his friends one last look over his shoulder, bowing his head ever so slightly.

"You're just going to let him go off like that?" Daniel demanded, rounding on Jack.

"We don't really have any other choice, Danny," Jack said, kneeling down and slipping his arms underneath Sam's limp form. He glanced at Janet. "It's ok to pick her up, right, Doc?"

Janet nodded, getting to her feet and retrieving her medical kit from where the Jaffa had dropped it. "Yeah, we just have to get her out of here."

* * *

It was night on the next planet when they arrived, which was good because Janet declared that they should rest and give Sam, at least, a chance to recover a little.

"Two gates down," Daniel murmured. He and Jack were sitting by a small campfire while Janet got Sam settled in one of the tents. "Seven more to go."

"One team member down, three more to go." Jack had a worried frown on his face. "What if in the end Carter's the only one left, and she's too weak to get there?"

"Jack, we need to be optimistic here," Daniel said. "I don't think we're going to make it otherwise."

They both glanced over towards the shadowy form of Janet as she came out of the tent, moving to sit next to Daniel.

"Carter all tucked in?" Jack asked.

Janet nodded. "She was awake for a bit. She's pretty confused but I think she's asleep now."

"God, I'm so…" Jack poked at the fire vehemently with a stick. "…worried about her…"

Daniel and Janet exchanged a look and Janet nodded. "I know, Colonel, we all are." She glanced at Jack, then spoke daringly. "And I know that you would rather die yourself than lose her."

Jack glanced up at her, a faint smile flickering across his face.

Daniel frowned. "What?"

"The zatarc testing," Jack replied, giving the fire one last poke before tossing his stick into the flames. "Remember."

"Oh, right…they thought you and Sam were zatarc's then when they re-tested you…"

"…we found that we'd just left something out." Jack murmured.

"Yeah, no one ever told me what that was, exactly."

Jack was staring at the ground, debating whether or not he felt like going any further with this conversation or if he just wanted to tell them he was too tired. "We left out the fact that we lo…well, that we had certain feelings."

"Feelings?" Daniel raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, feelings. For each other." Jack hunched his shoulders, wanting to shut out his friends and bring them closer at the same time. "I'd do anything for her."

"And you're doing everything you can," Janet said gently.

"It doesn't feel like I am," Jack replied a little snappily. "What if this doesn't work? What if all we end up doing is dragging Carter around the galaxy until she dies?"

"Jack, we've seen some pretty amazing things in these past seven years…" Daniel murmured. "I think this is going to work. We just have to keep going and not give up."

"Oh how philosophical of you. You're starting to sound like that Oma chick. Again." Jack stood up, stretching. "I'm gonna hit the sack, one of you two can take first watch. I'll take second." He slouched off in the direction of the tents.

In the firelight Janet raised her eyebrows at Daniel. "I don't understand that man."

"Not many do," Daniel said with a chuckle. "I think Sam does, though, for the most part."

"What if we all do have to end up sacrificing ourselves to save her?" Janet asked timidly.

Daniel shrugged. "Then that's what we'll have to do. We never know…." He noticed the worried expression on Janet's face and said, "Janet…in the book the author said that no one ever died because of the journey."

"I thought you said many had failed."

"Failed isn't the same as killed," Daniel said. "Failed means they just weren't able to make it to the tree."

Janet nodded, then made an exasperated, angry noise. "I hate terminal illnesses."

"Is there anyone who doesn't?"

"I mean…As a doctor…I'm so used to being able to help people. I've removed alien entities from people's bodies before, for god's sake!" Janet cried. "And yet here my friend is with a 'simple' Earth illness and there's nothing I can do to save her with all the medicine and technology that I have at my disposal."

"That's why we're doing this," Daniel reached out and put an arm around Janet's shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "Because it's our last hope."

Janet sighed. "She means a lot to all of us."

"Yeah." Daniel was gazing absently into the dying fire. "I don't know of many other's that I'd do this for."

"Oh…I can think of a few…" Janet said, glancing up at him out of the corner of her eye.

Daniel didn't notice. "Do you suppose that we're all a bit in love with her?" he said quietly. "I mean, not the same way Jack is but…I don't know…"

"Like she's our sister?"

"No…more than that…I don't really know. It's just…we've been through a lot together. All of us have, really."

"Mmm." Janet nodded. "Sam's like the sister I never had…well, alright I had sisters. But Sam's like the sister that actually cares about me."

"Yeah," Daniel's eyes sparkled slightly. "And she's like, one of the few attractive women I've met who didn't write me off as a book-wormy, possibly gay nerd."

"Possibly gay?" Janet spluttered, trying hard not to laugh. "Oh I hope not…"

"What?" Daniel blinked at her.

"Nothing, forget it." Janet shook her head and gave him a friendly little push. "Off to bed with you, nerd, doctor's orders. I'll take the first watch."

"You sure?" Daniel said, half rising.

The doctor nodded, grabbing a long stick to try and urge some life back into the fire with. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Go get some sleep. I'll be in to get Col. O'Neill in an hour."

"Ok." Daniel shot her a faint smile. "G'night, Janet."

"Night, Daniel," she replied, not fully trusting herself to look back at him.

That night they all dreamed of a lone Jaffa defeating many and returning safely home. None knew what it meant, but they all awoke with a sense of calm the next morning.


	5. Waypoint

A/N – Whoo! Again, sorry for the wait, but I think you'll find this interesting. It's the longest chapter yet and I take advantage yet again of my four years experience in Latin (hey, this is probably the only reason I'll ever have to use it, I may as well take advantage and pull out all the stops…)

And remember, nice long reviews encourage me to write faster :P

* * *

Chapter 5: Waypoint 

Jack sat near the fire the next morning, sipping at a cup of lukewarm coffee and watching as Janet and Sam sorted through Sam's various pills. While Sam _was_ actually conscious, and didn't look like she was two seconds from collapsing, she certainly wasn't looking her best. After finishing with Janet she walked over and took a seat next to Jack, taking a cup of coffee.

Jack watched her curiously as she took a sip, then promptly looked ready to burst into tears.

"This coffee's terrible…"

Jack sighed and took the cup from her. "It's just cold. Here." Moving the pot he set her cup down on the burner over the fire so it could heat up.

Daniel came out of his tent looking groggy. He joined the others by the fire. "Hey," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"Daniel." Jack nodded in greeting. "Got the rest of the addresses ready?"

"You really think we'll be able to get through all of them in one go?" Janet asked, raising an eyebrow and shooting a concerned look in Sam's direction.

"Well, assuming we don't run into anymore bad guys…"

"I don't think we should really be making _any_ assumptions, really…" Daniel said. "We know that this whole thing is supposed to be a test of spirit and character and all that."

"Wonderful," Jack stood up. "Let's start packing up here, campers. The sooner we get going the sooner we finish this whole damn thing."

Half an hour later they were standing next to the DHD, watching as Daniel dialed the address. As the wormhole formed they all were silently praying that they wouldn't come face to face with a battalion of Jaffa the second they stepped through.

Instead they found themselves in a field on the edge of a woods, with a small village just barely visible in the distance. The sky above was clear and the air all around had the faint flowery scent of spring.

"This is nice…" Sam observed quietly, tilting her head up towards the sky.

"Uhuh, very nice." Jack sounded distracted. As the others looked around with curious expressions he was busy getting ready to dial the next address.

"Colonel, wait," Janet said suddenly, putting a hand on Jack's arm.

Jack rounded on her with a warning growl. "Doc…"

"No, I heard something. From over there." Janet pointed off towards their left. "Like someone crying."

"We don't have time…" Jack grumbled, but Daniel and Sam had obviously heard it too for suddenly all three of his teammates were staring at him with pleading expressions. With a resigned gesture he started off in the direction of the sound.

What they found, crouched behind some low bushes, was a small boy. He had one arm over his face and was sniffling loudly, though he looked up when they approached, stopping his crying and blinking at them with wet eyes.

"Uhmm….hello?" Daniel said timidly, taking a step closer.

The boy tilted his head to one side, not understanding, so Daniel waved at him a little, smiling. The boy managed a feeble wave back and muttered, "Salvete."

"That's Latin." Daniel murmured to Jack, who nodded. Crouching down so he was on a level with the boy, Daniel began to speak with him, quietly and slowly. After a moment he straightened back up and turned to face the group.

"So what's the matter with the kid?" Jack asked.

"He says he and his sister were playing in a valley even though they weren't supposed to be," Daniel said. "He said it's a very dangerous place and that his sister….that she got trapped in a small rockslide a few moments ago."

Sam's eyes widened. "Didn't he tell any of the adults?!"

"He's too afraid to." Daniel glanced back at the boy, who was crying again. "He's just a kid…Jack I think we should try and help."

Jack let out a disgruntled sigh, but nodded. "Yeah. Let's see what we can do."

Daniel smiled, then turned to take the little boy's hand. He spoke soothingly to him and the boy led them down the side of a low ravine. At the bottom they immediately spotted a freshly fallen pile of rocks. Jack surveyed them and took his hat off, rubbing his hand through his hair before replacing it.

"Ookkayy…Carter, you sit with the kid and look after him. Danny, Doc, lend me hand."

The three of them set about shifting the rocks, occasionally making comments about how they could really use Teal'c just about now. Sam sat on the ground, holding the little boy in her lap. He was still sniffling, but clung to her in the desperate sort of way that little children can. After a moment he looked up at her.

"Non habeo mater." He said quietly, then turned to rest his head against her shoulder. "Tu iucundus."

Sam frowned, then called to Daniel. "Daniel…what's 'non habeo mater, tu iucundus' mean?"

Daniel paused in his shifting of the rocks to think a moment. " I think it means ' I don't have a mother, you're nice' or something."

Sam smiled, hugging the little boy close to her and gently brushing his tears away. He gave her a weak smiled before looking back at the others and watching as they shifted rocks.

A few minutes later, just as Janet shouted that she could see the girl, a tall man came rushing towards them, eyes wide. The little boy jumped up out of Sam's lap and began jabbering at the man, who listened gravely for a moment before running over to help Jack and Daniel as they pulled a small girl from the rubble.

Janet immediately set to work tending to the girl the others walked back to Sam and the man bent down to pick the small boy up.

"I suppose I'm in a debt of gratitude to all of you," he said in slightly accented English.

Jack waved his hand. "Ah, it was nothing. And the doc thinks your girl's gonna be ok."

"I have a question though," Daniel said, butting in. "How come your son doesn't speak English?"

"Oh, he can if he tries," the man said, hugging the boy to him. "He prefers not to. The children of our city aren't being taught this tongue in school any longer. Our people want to go back to the ancient tongue."

"Wow…" Daniel's eyes lit up eagerly.

"Danny," Jack said sharply. "No. As soon as Doc's taken care of the little girl we're going to be on our way again."

"But why?" the man asked. "The least I can do to thank you for helping my children is provide you with a good meal and a place to rest…"

"Look," Jack said. "The offer's very kind, I'm sure, but we're sort of pressed for time here." He glanced at Sam. "Carter's very sick…we're on our way to the tree of life to see if it'll help her at all."

"The tree of life?" The man's eyes widened. "You are the first in many generations to come through here seeking that."

"But you've had other's before us?" Daniel asked.

The man nodded, smiling. "Yes. Our city Appia is a waypoint on that journey."

"That's…great…" Jack said in a tone that indicated he failed to see the significance.

"You will have to come with us to the city then," the man said. "I will provide you with a place to rest tonight, and in the morning the Canon will be back from his journey to the eastern lands and you can pay a visit to him to receive his blessing of passage."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yet again, we appreciate the offer but is that all really necessary?"

"Of course," the man stared at Jack, frowning slightly. "Do you not know? Without his blessing you will not be able to pass to the next planet. The Ancient ones declared it so."

"And is it easy to get this blessing?" Daniel asked.

The man shook his head. "No, the Canon must be very selective of whom he bestows it upon. However I will be happy to put in many good words for you." He glanced at Sam. "And if you truly are seeking only to save the life of your friend, then I'm sure you will be deemed worthy."

At that moment Janet walked over. "You're daughter's going to be fine," she told the man, who looked immensely relieved "She's still unconscious, but I tended to her injuries and she should be up soon."

"Many praises to you," the man said, setting his son down so he could go and scoop the little girl into his arms before turning back to them. "Come with me, you will all be welcome guests in my home. I am Aurelius by the way."

"I'm Daniel Jackson," Daniel said, moving to walk next to Aurelius. "This is Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter and Janet Fraiser."

"Honored." Aurelius turned his head to smile at them. "My children are Julius and Cornelia."

At the mention of his name, Julius grinned. He moved to Sam's side, gripping her hand in his and smiling up at her.

The city of Appia wasn't large, but still too big to be called a town or village. The people walking up and down the streets were dressed much the same as Aurelius in flowing robes or dresses, and they smiled curiously at SG-1 as they passed.

Aurelius' house was large compared to those around it, and when the group entered a servant in a brown tunic came up and exchanged a few words with Aurelius before hurrying off again. A moment later a female servant came and took Cornelia in her arms, carrying her off towards the back of the house. Julius watched with wide eyes, but still clung to Sam.

Aurelius beckoned for them to follow. "Come, let us enjoy a drink before dinner."

They followed him into what appeared to be a sitting area, with a large fire pit in the center and many elegant cushions positioned around it. They all sat and Julius curled up at Sam's side, leaning against her.

"I apologize for my son," Aurelius said, smiling bemusedly at Julius. "You see, my wife died many years ago and I'm afraid the children have been without a mother for too long."

Sam smiled, putting an arm around Julius. "It's ok, I don't mind."

Aurelius got up and poured glasses of wine for them, though Sam declined, so he gave her a glass of a sweet smelling fruit juice that Julius also was quite partial too.

They talked for a good hour, Daniel as eager to learn about Aurelius' culture as Aurelius was to learn about that of Earth. Then a servant came to tell them the food was ready, and they moved to another room that had a long low table in it.

Dinner was a refreshing enough alternative to the MREs, and a rather groggy looking Cornelia joined them, though the girl didn't say much more than a mumbled thanks to SG-1. After they were done the children were sent to bed, though Julius seemed disappointed about it.

"You know, Sam and I should probably get to bed, too," Janet said as the adults stood. Daniel too, nodded and said that he should be probably hitting the sack as well.

"Very well, I shall have the servants show you to your rooms." Aurelius turned to Jack. "Colonel?"

"Nah, I'm not quite ready yet."

"Alright."

As the others headed up to the bedrooms, Jack and Aurelius returned to the sitting room.

"I must say you strike me as a very honorable leader, O'Neill." Aurelius said, reclining on one of the large cushions.

Jack grinned at him. "I try."

"That you would put the entire team in danger to save the life of one…some would call that reckless."

"Yeah…" Jack looked down at his hands. "I've got my own little voice that's telling me this is a stupid idea. We already lost our friend Teal'c and can only hope he made it home alright."

"So why do you keep going?" Aurelius asked.

Jack looked up at him, then out the open door at the other end of the room that looked out on an inner courtyard. "Because I care about Samantha. I couldn't live with myself if I let her die."

"I once loved as you love," Aurelius said quietly. "But I had the misfortune to not have the chance to save my wife. Feel honored that you've been given that chance."

"Oh yeah, real honored," Jack grumbled. "I don't even know it exists."

Aurelius smiled wanly. "It does, be assured of that, O'Neill."

Jack found that even after he was shown up to his room he did not feel like sleeping. Instead he asked which room Sam was in and went to say good night to her, assuming that she hadn't fallen asleep yet.

Instead of doors the rooms had piece of cloth over the entryways. Jack stuck his head through the door, whispering, "Carter?"

There was a flurry of movement. She'd been sitting on the end of the bed and was startled when she heard Jack's voice, and quickly tried to pull her knit hat back on.

"Hey, don't bother with that thing." Jack walked over and sat next to her.

"But, sir…" She hadn't gotten the hat on correctly, but looked reluctant to move her hands and re-adjust it.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Look, I don't care how much hair you have."

With a nervous little sigh Sam let the hat fall to her lap, staring down at it as though afraid to meet Jack's gaze. She jumped a little when he put his hand on her shoulder.

"You're gorgeous, Carter, and you don't have to be wearing a sweet little tank top or a crazy blue dress to prove it, either."

"Thanks, sir." Sam looked up at him, smiling weakly. "I still don't understand why you're doing this for me, but thank you anyway."

"Because you're my friend and I care about you," Jack said. He looked down. "Beyond that you're someone that's very near and dear to my heart."

Sam reached out and put a hand on Jack's arm. "I don't want to die on another planet."

"What? Sam don't talk about that…"

"No, sir, listen to me…if we're not going to make it –"

"We'll make it!"

"If we're not going to make it I want you to take me back to Earth. Back home."

Jack looked at her and for the first time truly saw fear welling in her eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek and Jack put his hand up to lightly cup her face.

"Sam…you're not going to die…"

"I'm scared," she whispered, eyes wide. "Jack, I'm so frightened…"

"Shhh…" Jack pulled her to him, gently pushing her head down to rest on his shoulder. "Sam, I promise you're going to be ok."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep!" she sobbed, clinging to him.

"I'm not making ones I can't keep. Look at me."

She looked up, eyes wet.

"As long as I'm breathing I'm going to make sure you are too."

And there it was again. That unspoken moment when they each knew what was going on in the other's head, where their feelings were bared raw and open between them. Had they been normal people in a normal situation Jack would have taken the opportunity to place a searing kiss on her lips, but for some reason this just didn't seem like the right moment.

"Get some sleep," he said quietly. "We're going to have a big day tomorrow."

Sam sniffed and nodded, not saying anything as Jack stood up and left the room.

The next morning as the alien sun was just beginning to climb over the tops of the trees Aurelius led them down the empty main street to what appeared to be a large marble temple. Once through the façade of tall Corinthian columns they could hear the faint sounds of music and catch whiffs of incense on the air.

Inside was a long, open space. At the far end they could see a large alter, and it was towards this that Aurelius led them. An older man stood before the altar, singing in a smooth bass voice and accompanied by a group of musicians off to the side.

Aurelius knelt on the floor, bowing his head and motioning for the others to do the same. They waited until the song had finished and the man turned to face them.

"Aurelius! Surrexite, amica meum!" The Canon boomed in his deep voice.

Aurelius got to his feet and the others stood by as he and the Canon exchanged a few words in Latin before the Canon turned to face SG-1.

"I have only twice in my life," he said. "Generations ago when I was young, met people who wished to find the arbor vitam. Both times I did not give them my blessing and they failed. They were not worthy."

"We are." Jack said, staring into the old man's eyes.

A smile passed over the Canon's face. "And what makes you so sure?"

"I don't know."

"Your grace," Aurelius said, stepping forward once again. "They are not doing it out of selfishness, they do it to help their friend." He beckoned Sam forward and put his arm around her shoulders. "If you examine her you would see that she has an illness for which there is no cure."

The Canon gave Sam a brief look of pity, then turned to the other three. "And truly the only reason in your hearts to find the Tree is to save your friend?"

"Yes." They all said quietly.

"I do not know you," The Canon said, a little regretfully. "I do not know whether you are good and true people."

"They are!" Aurelius cried. "Canon, they responded to my little son's plea for help and saved the life of my daughter! They spent time at my home and I know in my heart that they are true."

For a long moment the Canon was silent. He stared at them, then walked over to Sam, lightly touching her cheek with his bony fingers, staring deep into her eyes as though he could see some bit of her illness. Then he moved to Jack to stare into his eyes, though the old man was forced to tilt his chin up to do so.

"I see fear in you, Colonel," he said. "You do not normally have fear. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Jack said in barely more than a whisper.

The Canon tilted his head to one side. "I also see love in you. You do not normally have love either." He waited, as though expecting a response, though continued when he didn't get one. "You have fear because now that you have love, you are terrified to lose it again."

Again, Jack whispered, "Yes."

The Canon stepped back, glancing only briefly at Daniel and Janet before smiling broadly. "I will grant upon you all my blessing of passage. May you find well what you are seeking."

A sigh of relief swept through the group and Daniel gave the Canon a courteous sort of bow. "Thank you."

"First I must perform the rite," the Canon said, holding up a finger. He produced from beneath his robes a necklace. "This charm must be set in its proper place on the altar."

It was only now that they actually looked around the Canon to see the altar. Daniel let out a soft gasp as he saw the Ancient writing around the base of it. "It's some sort of machine, isn't it?" he asked. "I bet it triggers something that will let us dial the next planet."

The Canon gave him a quizzical look. "I do not know. It is merely something that has been passed down through the generations of Appian Canons."

"Right…" Jack waved his hand. "Continue."

"Patients, Colonel," the Canon said, turning to face the altar. "I am old. I need to take my time." He walked over and began muttering under his breath, closing his eyes as he removed the charm from around his neck and placed it on a small indentation in the altar. There was a low humming noise and the charm glowed briefly, then there was nothing.

"That's it?" Jack asked after a moment.

The Canon turned. "Were you expecting more, Colonel?"

"No, I just…" Jack shook his head. "Can we go now?"

"Yes, yes, go now." The canon laughed, making a shooing motion with both hands. "And Samantha?"

Sam turned back to face him. "Yeah?"

"You are too good a person to have life leave you now," he said with a sad smile. "And your friends are too good of people to let that happen. You _will_ overcome this."

Sam opened her mouth to speak, but was too choked up to do so, so she merely closed her mouth again and nodded, before turning back to leave the temple with the others, and head out into the bright morning.


	6. Waiting Room

A/N – Sorry for the wait. My only excuse is that I'm a senior in high school…that should be enough :P

* * *

Chapter 6: Waiting Room

"Patience," Jack grumbled as they stepped out of the gate and onto the other planet. "I want to know how he expects me to learn patience when time is the one thing we _don't_ seem to have!"

"Jack I think he meant it like things will happen when they happen and there's no use getting upset about it," Daniel said. They turned to watch as Janet and Sam stepped through the gate and the wormhole closed behind them.

"Yeah, well what I'm worried about is that they're going to happen too late," Jack said.

Daniel shot him an annoyed look then turned to survey the landscape around them. It was barren prairie, with the dark shapes of trees visible far away on the horizon. Other than the Stargate, there appeared to be no distinguishing landmarks in sight.

"Personally, when it comes to my friends' lives I don't give a damn about patience. Are we ready to go? Good." Jack grumpily stalked over to the DHD and began to dial the next address, punching each key with an annoyed sort of fierceness. As he hit the last one, however, nothing happened. "DAMNIT!"

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, moving to his side and flinching slightly as Jack kicked the DHD.

"This goddamn thing isn't dialing." Jack growled. He tried the address again, this time with a little more precision. Still, however, nothing happened. "Something's wrong with it."

Daniel frowned. "Maybe we need to get another blessing of passage or something. I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't another test of some sort."

"What do you mean_another_ test?" Jack asked, rounding on Daniel. "What other tests have we had so far?"

"Think about it," Daniel said. "Self-sacrifice. Compassion. Maybe this one tests…I don't know, something else."

Jack waved his hand dismissively and kicked the DHD again. "Those were coincidences, not tests, Danny!"

"Sir, if you stop kicking it," Sam suggested timidly. "I could open up the DHD and have a look. Maybe the crystals are just out of place or something."

"Right. Take a look at it."

Sam knelt next to the DHD, pulling her backpack to her to remove laptop and tools. As she set about opening the panel on the DHD and hooking her computer up to it Jack hovered nearby, breathing down her neck and occasionally scuffing at the dirt with his boot.

"Sir…" she looked up at him. "Do you mind?"

Jack huffed and went to sit on the stairs in front of the Stargate.

Daniel and Janet meanwhile were walking around, more for exercise's sake than to see if there was anything of interest. After a few minutes Daniel looked back over his shoulder.

"Do you think she'll figure it out?"

"She's Sam," Janet said, smiling. "Cancer or no I'm sure she'll work it out."

Daniel nodded. A little ahead and to the left stood a large flat-topped boulder and they walked over to it, climbing up on top to sit.

"So…" Daniel said, picking up a small pebble and fiddling with it.

Janet leaned back on her hands. "So what?"

"Nothing." Daniel shrugged. "I just hope that we can help Sam."

"Mmmm."

"I kinda hate having to go on missions where we can't just relax enough to enjoy the planets we're on…" Daniel said, a little sadly. "When we just have to worry about other things. Like that our friend might drop dead any second."

Janet scowled slightly. "Don't talk like that. Sam's got plenty of time."

"I know, I know…"

"Look…" Janet pointed up towards the blazing blue sky. "A bird…" she followed the small speck across the sky with one hand.

"Yeah." Daniel squinted, turning his head around to watch as the bird sped off towards the horizon. "I wonder if there's any people living here…"

"Who knows?" Janet looked around again. "I sure don't see anything."

Daniel nodded glumly, then they stood up and headed back to the 'gate to see if Sam had made any progress with the DHD.

"What? I don't get it…" Jack was saying as they walked over.

Sam rolled her eyes and sighed. "There's some sort of program written into the DHD that I haven't seen before. It's almost like…I don't know, a timer of some sort. I'm not quite sure. It's like someone managed to alter the dialing protocol of this one DHD, which is strange because with the automatic update the protocol should have been moved to the other gates…"

"Unless it was an Ancient who did it," Daniel pointed out.

Sam nodded. "Good point."

"I mean…maybe I was right, maybe this is another test."

"How the hell is putting a timer on a DHD a test?" Jack grumbled, scowling at the other three like they were personally responsible.

"Patience, sir." Janet said.

That only seemed to annoy Jack more. "Patience? No offence, doc, but I've been as patient as I can and now it's starting to annoy the crap out of me."

"No, sir, that's not what I meant," Janet said. "I meant maybe it's a test of patience. The timer won't let us go through to the next planet for a certain amount of time. If we're patient we will wait here for it, if we're not patient we'll give up and go home."

"But how can we go home if the thing won't let us dial?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes.

Sam stood up then, closing the panel on the DHD and reaching over to dial.

"Carter, what'cha doin' ?"

"Dialing the planet we just came from." Sam replied, hitting the jewel in the center. "I've just got an idea…"

The wormhole stabilized in a wave of blue and Jack raised his eyebrows. "Ookay then…looks like Danny-boy was right. A test it is."

* * *

"The stars look so different here," Sam murmured. The night was pleasantly warm so they'd decided to forgo the tents and sleep under the sky. It was proving difficult to actually fall asleep, however, because the strange constellations in the sky were fascinating enough to stare at for hours.

Jack nodded in agreement to Sam, folding one arm behind his head. He tried closing his eyes but Daniel spoke then.

"I think it's interesting to hear what other cultures on other planets have as constellations." Daniel said. "I mean, they have different histories than ours, and so the things they'd see in the sky would be different…some might not even have constellations…"

"That one kinda looks like Homer Simpson," Jack said drowsily, reaching up to gesture at a clump of stars.

Sam snorted. "I'm not seeing it, sir."

"No, seriously, look…" He scooted closer and moved his hand over Sam's field of vision. "There. Eyes, head, belly…"

"Whatever," Sam chuckled and rolled over onto her side with her back to her CO. "I'm going to try and get some sleep."

"Finally!" Came the huffy sigh from Janet's sleeping bag. "You guys are worse than Cassie and her friends at a sleepover."

"Yeah, like oh my gawsh guys I got this totally awesome new purse…" Daniel said in a high-pitched voice that caused the other three to turn and stare at him.

"Whoa, Danny-boy, you got something you wanna tell us?" Jack asked, turning his head to look at Daniel. All he got in response, however, was a loud, very forced sounding snore.

* * *

Jack was awoken sometime far later into the night by someone shaking his arm. Opening his eyes he saw it was Sam, laying next to him, propped up on one elbow, her eyes wide.

"Sir, look…" she whispered, pointing off behind Jack.

He rolled over, propping himself up as well. For a few moments all he could see were the tall grasses that surrounded him. Then he heard a faint scuffling noise, and something popped up above the grasses, moving closer before vanishing again. "What the…"

"Hey what's going on?" Janet had woken up as well, crawling over to them.

Jack shushed her and grabbed his zat, slipping out of his sleeping bag and standing up, gripping the weapon tightly. "Hello?" he called.

More shuffling. Jack could see the grasses in front of them moving around. The thing he'd seen moments before had appeared to be a head of some sort, but in the dark he couldn't really tell. His three team members were all up and standing next to him by now, weapons at the ready.

"Sir, wha…" Sam's words were cut off as something fired at them and a bolt of energy flew past her head.

"Watch it!" Jack shouted, grabbing Sam and pulling her down. The others ducked as well as a barrage of energy bolts flew over their heads. "Ok, so I'm guessing whoever this is doesn't want us here…lets head back to the gate and hope that goddamn DHD is working!"

"Jack, what about all our equip –"

"Damn the equipment, Daniel, let's move!"

While Jack pulled out his P90 to lay down cover fire, the others started back in a crouching run towards the gate. Janet reached the DHD first and stood to begin dialing the next address.

"Let's hope this works…" Daniel said, shooting nervous glances at Janet.

Sam nodded. She had her eyes fixed on Jack, who was running towards them and firing back over his shoulder at their unseen pursuers.

They all heard the whoosh of a stabilizing wormhole behind them, and seconds later Janet's yelp of pain as one of the energy blasts hit her in the back.

"JANET!" Daniel leapt to his feet, rushing over to her.

"Danny, let's move it, now!" Jack and Sam followed him, both firing behind them in an attempt to hold off their attackers a little longer.

"Jack, she's hurt, I don't think she can walk!" Daniel looked down at Janet worriedly, gently slipping an arm beneath her head to support her. "Janet, come on…"

"Then carry her!" Jack roared, grabbing Sam by the arm and dragging her towards the gate. "We're _all_ going to be hurt if we don't get our asses through that god-damn gate!"

Daniel sighed heavily, but after another energy bolt hit the DHD he didn't need anymore convincing, and scooped Janet into his arms before running after Jack and Sam through the gate.

* * *

"Please tell me we remembered to bring something!" Daniel cried, frustrated as he examined Janet's injury. "A bandage, anything!"

Sam sighed, dully offering him the bandage from a pocket of her tac vest. Daniel just gave her a dark look. Sam glanced up at Jack. "Sir, we have to get Janet back to the SGC. She's badly injured."

Jack ran his fingers through his hair. "Is it life threatening?"

"Yeah," Sam said, using her canteen to moisten a piece of cloth and gently clean some of the dried blood from Janet's wound. "She needs medical attention _now_."

"And what about you, Carter?" Jack raised his eyebrows. "You're not looking too hot either."

"I'm fine, sir, we need to worry about Janet."

Jack crouched down near them, looking down at Janet's unconscious form. He glanced up at Sam. "If we start back home now, there might not be time for you to start over again," he said quietly.

"I know, but I wouldn't sacrifice myself for Janet." Sam bit her lip.

Daniel huffed. "Look, no one has to sacrifice themselves for anyone. I'll take Janet back home, if I hurry I'll be able to make it before her condition gets much worse."

"Daniel, if you try going back those aliens will attack you again. It'll be too difficult for you to carry Janet, dial the gate and fight them off all at the same time," Sam pointed out. "We don't need both of you getting killed."

"I know, but we don't need you dying either," Daniel said. "Sam, that's the whole point that we came on this mission in the first place. You and Jack need to keep going. Let me worry about getting Janet home." Sam nodded and they both looked up at Jack, who groaned.

"God, I hate making decisions like this." Jack grumbled.

"Oh, I've got an idea…" Sam pulled a piece of paper and pen out of her pocket, quickly scribbling down a gate address and handing it to Daniel. "This is P9X-594. I was there with SG-11 a year ago to investigate some ruins. But if my calculations are correct you'll be able to go here rather than the last planet we were on and still take the same rout home."

Daniel smiled tightly, looking up at Jack. "See?"

"Ok," Jack nodded. "Danny, take Fraiser back to Earth. But for God's sake watch yourself, we'll have no idea if you guys made it back OK."

"I know." Daniel picked Janet up again carefully, shifting her in his arms so he would have one hand free.

"Be sure to tell Fraiser when you get back that there are _some_ advantages to her being so tiny," Jack said, smirking as he watched Daniel dial the gate.

Daniel looked back at him and rolled his eyes. "I'll see you guys soon, hopefully."

"Good luck, Daniel," Sam called.

Daniel paused on his way up to the gate, turning to smile at her. "Yeah, you too." He turned back and vanished through the rippling event horizon.

Jack sighed and clapped Sam on the shoulder with one hand. "You ready to go?"

"Ready as I ever am, sir."

"Okaaayy…" Jack rubbed his hands together as he stepped up to the DHD. "Looks like it's just you and me, doll. Let's get this show on the road…again…"


	7. To Live Forever

A/N – Lyrics quoted in this chapter are from "Who wants to live forever" by Queen

* * *

Chapter 7: To Live Forever  


Both Sam and Jack were grimly silent as Jack dialed in the next address. Jack kept shooting Sam wary looks out of the corner of his eye. A nervous sensation twisted around in his gut. Without Janet and her doctor's qualifications, what was he going to do if Sam suddenly keeled over? And Daniel, who knew more than anyone what to expect on this trip…what would they do without him?

And beyond that, they were now down from five guns to two. Or one and a half. Sam didn't look up to firing anything bigger than a zat at the moment.

"Come on," Jack turned to hold out one hand to Sam, encouraging her to follow him through the open gate. Sam gave him a tired look and nodded, dragging her feet slightly as she walked over to him.

Had Jack not been there to catch her, Sam probably would have tumbled down the stone steps leading up to the gate on the other side. They'd come out amidst what appeared to be the ruins of some old temple, though Jack didn't get much of a chance to admire it as he helped Sam to sit down at the base of the steps.

"Come on, Carter!" he said, panic showing for the first time in his voice. Sam was sitting there with her face in her hands, trembling slightly. "We've only got two more gates to go…"

Sam looked up at him, eyes half lidded, skin pale. "I know, sir…I just need…"

"What? What do you need? Sam…? SAM!"

She'd pitched forward suddenly, her whole body seeming to tense up, arms drawn tight to her chest and eyes squeezed shut. Jack realized in a panicked sort of way that she was going into another one of her seizures, and that he didn't know what more he could do other than cushion her head as her whole body began to convulse violently.

Finally the convulsions subsided and Sam went limp again. Hands shaking, Jack moved them both so they were in the shelter of one of the half collapsed walls. He still had his pack with him, and pulled a small blanket out of it, then pulled Sam into his lap, wrapping the blanket around her and holding her unconscious form close to him as he leaned back against the wall.

Running his hand gently up and down her arm, Jack was struck with the sudden realization of how helpless both of them were. If Sam was awake and talking to him he knew that there would be no sarcastic remark or crude joke he could make, because the situation was that bleak. They were alone, God-knew-where in the galaxy, with one backpack and a series of gate addresses that might end up not actually getting them anywhere.

Where was Thor and the whole Asgard fleet when you needed them, anyway? They could have probably done a world of good right about now.

_Who wants to live forever?_

_Who dares to love forever?_

_Damn it, Queen!_ Jack thought bitterly as the lyrics floated unbidden across his mind._I want my Sam to live forever. _

He felt her hand tighten suddenly on his jacket and Jack looked down to see her blue eyes, though their color seemed duller now, staring up at him, confused and frightened. He realized with a sudden shock that he'd spent so much time thinking about what _he_, what Jack O'Neill with two goddamn L's, was feeling that he'd forgotten how terrifying this would be to Sam.

"Jack…" her voice came out in a terrified squeak and she buried her face in his shoulder. "What…what happened?"

"You had another seizure when we came through the gate," Jack said, hugging her tighter when she let out a frightened little whimper. "I'm right here, Sam, it's ok."

"Janet and Daniel…" Sam whispered, looking up at Jack with wide eyes. "They're gone…Jack…don't leave me too…"

"I'm not going to leave you, Sammy, not ever." Jack reassured her, pressing his cheek to the top of her head for a moment. "You have to be strong. You can do this…we've only got two more to go."

Sam was already trying to get to her feet, grabbing onto the wall for support, gritting her teeth as her legs seemed ready to collapse beneath her. Jack stood, putting an arm around her, helping her back over to the DHD. She stumbled, nearly falling, but Jack caught her.

_Who dares to love forever?_

_When love must die…_

"It won't. I won't let it." Jack heard himself saying aloud. Sam gave him a questioning look and he shook his head, reaching out to dial the next address.

* * *

Sam was a dead weight in his arms before he'd even stepped out of the gate. Sweat had broken out on her forehead and while she was still breathing, each breath came out heavy and labored. As Jack maneuvered her away from the gate and towards the DHD she would occasionally let out a soft murmur, though nothing coherent. 

Jack was sweating himself by the time he propped her up against the DHD. He wouldn't be able to carry both her and the pack, so he quickly transferred a few necessary items from the pack to his vest pockets and tossed the pack aside. It was soon joined by Sam's vest, which Jack realized probably wasn't helping her breathing at all.

For a moment he crouched there, staring at Sam, wondering if he should try to do something to help her or just press on through the final gate. He didn't have much by the way of medical supplies, Daniel had taken some and Janet's kit had been left back when they'd been attacked a couple planets ago.

But he did have some fabric, and his canteen –though it was getting low- so Jack cradled Sam against him and gently pressed the moistened scrap to her forehead. It must have done something to make her feel better because Sam let out a contented little sigh a moment later, bringing a hand up to rest on his arm.

"Jack…" she whispered. "How much…."

"One more gate to go," he said, though he wasn't sure that's what she was asking. "One more gate and we're there. Not that I know where _there_ is exactly…"

Sam nodded, settling against him and sighing again.

Jack took a swig from the canteen, swallowing the remaining drops of stale, warm water. They'd need to refill. Still holding Sam he glanced around and spotted, far off to the left, what appeared to be some tall reeds and cattails.

"Sam?" he whispered, gently shaking her. She opened her eyes, but he wasn't sure if she was actually awake or not. "I have to go refill the canteen, ok? So I'm going to carry you." She nodded and closed her eyes again.

Jack hooked the canteen onto his belt and scooped Sam up. She felt insanely light, too light for a woman her size, though it did make things a little easier on Jack's knees.

The reeds he'd seen were in fact on the edge of a wide, shallow and perfectly clear river. Jack set Sam down on the shore, leaning her gently against a large boulder. He knelt by the water, splashing some of the deliciously cold water on his face, then ripping another piece of fabric from the hem of his t-shirt and getting it wet, bringing it over to Sam to try and cool her off a little more.

"I think you're running a fever," Jack murmured, though he knew she probably couldn't hear him. "Too bad Doc isn't here…she'd know just what to do…"

He refilled the canteens, then, feeling a little weak, moved to sit next to Sam. Jack pulled out a power bar and nibbled on a corner of it, thinking maybe a bit more rest couldn't hurt. Once through the final gate he had no idea what he'd have to do to reach this tree, and if it involved carrying Sam over a long distance he'd need all his strength.

Sam regained consciousness for a little while, and Jack managed to get her to eat something, though for a few minutes she was looking rather green and he wasn't sure that the food was going to stay down.

"Are you going to be ok?" Jack asked, offering her another piece of a power bar. When Sam just looked at him sleepily he answered his own question. "You're going to be ok."

He didn't want to waste too much time, so when Jack was sure that he was rested enough, he stood up again, picking up Sam. She had lost consciousness again and her head lolled onto his shoulder, but at least without the weight of the pack it wasn't as hard on Jack. He set her down again only briefly to dial the DHD.

He stared up at the gate as he repositioned Sam in his arms. He had no idea what was going to be waiting for them on the other side, if it would be another barren, abandoned planet or a fully equipped Ancient hospital. Whatever it was, Jack prayed that it was something that could help Sam.

"Here goes nothing…" Jack murmured, and slowly walked towards the gate.

They passed through the wormhole. The first thing that sped across Jack's mind on the other side was that there was nothing beneath his feet. Spreading before him was a deep blackness with thousands of points of white light. It was cold, unbearably cold, a deep, soul penetrating freezing and had he time to think Jack would have realized the very blood in his veins was so cold it seemed to boil.

There was also no air. Jack realized this in the one, terrified second before he ceased to think anymore.

* * *

A/N - Bwahaha. It's not over yet, kiddies. :P Sorry this one was so short, but I swear I'll make it up in the next chapter. 


	8. Yggdrasil in Eden

A/N – Dun dun dun…I don't know if I'm quite happy with this chapter or not. So I'll leave it up to you to decide :P

* * *

Chapter 8: Yggdrasil in Eden

He was aware first that he was aware. It came as a shock to Jack that after experiencing what he now realized was the vacuum of space, that he was now alive, breathing, feeling. Hearing. A sound reached his ears, a pleasant sort of rushing and shushing noise. A few minutes later Jack realized it was the sound of the ocean, and that gritty feeling beneath his face was sand.

Jack sat up, looking around at a completely alien scene. He was laying on a beach. The sky above him was black and spattered with stars and a glowing thing some ways out that looked like a nebula. But dark as the sky was the sand and the ocean, and even the trees that stood some yards away inland seemed to glow as though they were bathed in sunlight.

Everything seemed to pulse with life. Looking towards the trees Jack could see their outstretched leaves beckoning to him, calling him forward. There was a path leading off through the trees and suddenly Jack had the strongest desire to get up and walk down that path, to see where it led.

He looked down at himself and saw his shoes were gone, his pants streaked with dirt, his black t-shirt torn and barely hanging on him. His jacket and tac-vest were completely gone. But there was still another more pressing matter…

"Sam?!" Jack called her name as he stumbled to his feet. His voice echoed up and down the empty beach, punctuating the steady noise of the waves. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "SAM?!"

He spotted her laying a hundred feet away, half in the water, and ran to her.

Sam was unconscious, the waves lapping at her slender legs. Like Jack's, her feet too were bare, and she wore only her olive drab pants and a black tank-top. The knit hat Cassie had given her was gone, lost somewhere along the way.

Jack dropped to his knees in the sand, ignoring the protests in his muscles as he pulled Sam into his arms, feeling the life that still pulsed through her and almost sobbing with relief. Cradling her in his lap, Jack ran his hand over her head, then caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"We've made it, Sam, I just know we have…" he murmured, standing up.

It took him longer than he thought it would to cross the sands to the edge of the forest. It felt like he was moving through a dream, and time wasn't quite flowing the way Jack was used to. But finally he felt dirt beneath his feet and found himself standing in the cool entrance to the forest, a glowing green light calling him forward along the path.

The air was cool against his face as he walked, a breeze picking up and falling every few seconds in an almost pulsing rhythm. Jack could feel twigs snapping beneath his feet.

He began to realize what was so eerie about the woods was that there were no animal noises. But no, almost the second that the thought crossed his mind he thought he heard a bird singing somewhere in the distance. He could no longer hear the ocean.

Jack was alarmed, suddenly when he felt Sam growing lighter in his arms. He looked down and saw that she was slipping through him, dropping to the ground as though made of water, of something less substantial then flesh. Jack cried out and dropped to his knees, trying to catch her, but it was no use.

"Sam!" Frantically he clawed at the ground where she'd vanished, as though hoping to uncover her just beneath the layer of dirt and leaves, but she wasn't there. He let out an angry, frightened cry and pounded his fists on the ground.

"Jack…don't be scared…"

He looked up. "I'm trying to save you and I keep losing you!" he shouted.

"Don't be scared." Her voice floated on the breeze.

Swallowing his fear, Jack stood up, looking around. "Sam…where are you?"

"I'm right here."

He started walking, almost running. "Where?!"

"Here…here…"

And finally he rounded a bend and there she was. Or rather, there was someone who looked like Sam. Someone wearing Sam's clothes and face, with long golden hair that hung all the way down her back, loose and blowing in the breeze.

"You're not Sam." Jack said, arms hanging limp at his sides, voice bitter with disappointment.

She nodded. "Yes."

"That wasn't a question!" he snapped, annoyed now. The Ancients were messing with him again.

"Jack you can't doubt this!" Sam's eyes widened and she looked frightened. "Jack if you doubt that I'm anything but yours I'll die!"

"Sam…" he wanted to believe she was his, and yes those blue eyes were Sam. That face was Sam. Around him the forest began to melt away.

"I am yours…" She took a step towards him, holding out her hand. "I am your Eve, your Isis. I am your Freya, your Asherah. Jack…" she was right in front of him now and he could see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Any doubt fled from him. "I'm your Sam."

"You should know I don't know who half those people are, baby," Jack said, then laughed and pulled Sam into his arms, burying his face in her hair. "But I know who you are. I know you."

Sam smiled, but slumped against him. "Jack, I can't…I need you to carry…" He was already a step ahead of her, putting one hand behind her knees and scooping her up. She draped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "We're almost there."

Jack kept walking.

They came out of the woods on the edge of a basin. A huge, wide valley spreading out beneath the stars and in the very center of it was a….thing….like nothing Jack had ever seen before. It was so beautiful and terrifying that he dropped to his knees, staring out at it, slack jawed. Sam was staring at it too and for what felt like hours neither could speak.

It looked like a tree, but Jack knew it wasn't really one. It was a tall, glowing pillar hundreds of feet high that seemed to emit a glowing light that had all the colors imaginable contained within it. The top of the pillar spread out in hundreds of branches, each spreading to a different part of the heavens. The thing was so immense, so full of life.

Jack got to his feet again after some prompting by Sam and, still carrying her, made his way down the side of the basin. At the bottom there was a thick layer of springy grass, punctuated here and there by small white flowers. A spring trickled nearby.

"I need to stay here," Sam said as Jack set her down on the grass. "I can't leave yet, I need to heal."

"Mmm…" Jack dropped down next to her. "I do too." He lay back on the soft, warm grass, folding his hands beneath his head and basking in the strange light from the tree of life.

Sam laughed, bending over to kiss his forehead. "Rest, Jack, you've done enough work."

Jack nodded sleepily and closed his eyes, slipping into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Jack awoke months, weeks, days, hours later feeling refreshed and content. He sat up and saw Sam lying next to him, her now long hair fanned out around her head, her lips slightly parted as she slept. She looked like an angel, the way she lay, standing out against the pale green of the grass.

Gently so as not to wake her, Jack reached out and caressed her cheek, letting his fingers wander down her neck to her shoulder. Sam's eyes opened slowly.

"Hey." She murmured, smiling up at him.

"Hey there." Jack's fingers returned to her cheek. "How're you feeling?"

"Better." Sam sat up, her hair cascading down her back. "A lot better. And look…" she smiled, stroking her long golden locks.

"You look gorgeous," Jack whispered, tangling his fingers in her hair. She scooted closer, leaning against him. "Are you ready to go home?" Not that he really knew how they were going to get home, but Jack was contented with the unbidden knowledge that when the time came, they'd be able to leave.

Sam shook her head. "No, not yet. I'm here with you Jack…right now…You saved my life…"

"I could never lose you." He cupped her cheek tightly in one hand.

Sam leaned into his touch, closing her eyes. "One more favor…"

"Anything."

Her eyes flew open and in them Jack could see reflected the light of the stars. "Make love to me."

It was the realest sensation he'd felt since coming to this place: that feeling of all the blood in his body suddenly rushing downwards. It was as though being this near to the Tree heightened every emotion, every sensation to the boiling point. Jack was suddenly very aware of Sam's skin beneath his fingers, the red of her lips, the soft rise and fall of her chest beneath the tank top.

Then it was all happening at once and the mundane moments passed away. Before he had time to think their clothes were gone and all Jack felt was Sam's warm skin against his, the prickling of the grass on his arms and the cool wind on his back.

He bent his head to press his mouth to one soft breast, and Jack groaned slightly at the tightening in his groin, then suddenly – oh god – Sam arched her back, lazily pushing her hips against his. She didn't want to go yet, but he was already gone.

They made love beneath the stars, beneath the outstretched branches of the Tree of Life, though neither could recall how long, how many times, or how long they lay afterwards in each other's arms. All Jack knew was that when his brain finally stopped exploding he was laying, stretched out on the grass with his head resting on something very soft and warm. He cuddled closer to Sam, wrapping an arm around her.

"We're just like Adam and Eve now, aren't we?" Sam whispered, giggling. She sat up, and Jack's head slid down so it was resting in her lap.

"So what now?" Jack asked, looking up at her.

Sam had an almost remorseful look on her face. "It's time to leave Eden."

"Is it?" Jack sat up as well. He noticed their clothes sitting off to the side, neatly folded though he didn't remember touching them since he'd thrown them off. "I suppose…"

"We have to go home." Sam was pulling her clothes on, slowly, purposefully. When Jack reached for his own clothes he saw that somehow they had been cleaned, the rips mended. "People will start to worry, I think."

"Yeah." Jack helped her to her feet. They stood, side by side, staring around for a moment. "So…how do we get home, exactly?"

Sam shrugged, shaking her head. "I thought you'd know."

"Me?" Jack blinked at her in surprise. Why would she expect him to know? Then…slowly…a memory crept across his mind. It was just after they'd met the Asgard and he'd been talking to Daniel about something…Norse mythology…about how two humans survived Ragnarok… "Come on! I do know…"

"Jack, what…" Sam gave him a questioning look as he tugged on her arm, and she dragged her feet a little. Jack sighed with frustration and turned, picking her up and practically running with her to the base of the Tree.

"I remember something that Daniel told me!" Jack cried excitedly, setting Sam down. They were standing at the base of the enormous trunk, just inches from its glowing surface. "In Norse mythology, two humans hid inside the trunk of the world tree, Yggdrasil, to survive the end of the world."

"But…" Sam frowned, not even bothering to ask how Jack remembered that. "Jack, we're not trying to survive the end of the world."

"No, but Sam…" he turned to her, cupping her face in his hands. "After Ragnarok the world was reborn. That's what we need to do. Be reborn into our world. Just trust me."

Sam nodded. She stepped close to Jack, wrapping her arms around him. Jack reached out with one hand, intending to touch the surface of the Tree. Instead, his hand passed right through, the color rippling. Jack looked down at Sam and she nodded, then together they closed their eyes and stepped into the Tree.


	9. We are the Dreamers

A/N – Ah, so here we are, final chapter. Unless of course I go crazy and think of something else I just _have_ to add to this story…but we shall see. As per my modus operandi, I get rather cute and silly with this final chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9: We are the Dreamers

Sam felt tired. She felt good, but tired. Her eyelids seemed to weigh about a thousand pounds each and much as she wanted to lift them, she couldn't. Instead she lay there, listening to the voices that drifted over to her.

"Dr. Fraiser, report." This was Hammond's voice, unmistakably.

"Well, sir," Janet replied. "The Tok'ra found them on a deserted moon. They were doing a routine sweep to see if it was suitable for their new base and…they picked up two life signs. When they checked it out they found Col. O'Neill and Major Carter, both unconscious. That's how they've been for the past few hours since the Tok'ra brought them back."

"And are either of them injured?"

"No, sir, that's one of the remarkable things about it –"

Daniel's voice interrupted. "Besides Sam's hair being about five feet long."

"Besides that, yes," Janet laughed quietly, then cleared her throat. "I've ran tests on Major Carter, double, triple checked the results. The _remarkable thing is_ there is no trace that there was ever any cancer in her body. It's gone, completely gone. She's in better health than before she got it. Col. O'Neill is in remarkably good shape as well."

"So they must have found it then," Daniel murmured.

Finally, Sam managed to get her eyes open. She mouthed wordlessly for a moment before she found her voice. "Janet…"

"Sam!" Janet turned, rushing to Sam's side. "Hey…how are you feeling?"

"Great, actually…" Sam said, frowning. With a little help from Janet she got into a sitting position, looking around at the others.

Hammond smiled. "It's good to have you back, Major."

"Thank you sir." Sam returned the smile then glanced to her left. She could see Jack laying on the next bed over, his eyes still closed. "Col. O'Neill…"

"…Is going to be fine, don't worry." Janet reassured her.

Daniel walked over to stand on the other side of Sam's bed. "So, Sam…" he reached out and gently poked the side of her head with one finger. "What's with the hair?"

"Hey, leave the lady alone!" came a loud protest from Jack's bed. "Sheesh, Daniel. Just be happy it was her hair and not mine."

"Glad to see you awake, Colonel," Janet said, turning and smiling down at Jack.

"You too, Doc. How's the back? I kinda expected you to be taking it easy."

"My back?" Janet raised her eyebrows. "Colonel, I've had plenty of time to recover…"

"Have you." Jack turned and exchanged a frown with Sam before looking back at Janet. "Well, looks like Sam wasn't the only miracle around here."

"Jack? What're you talking about?" Daniel asked, frowning. "Janet and I have been back for over two weeks."

Sam's eyes widened and she sat up straighter. "Two weeks?! It hasn't been two weeks!"

"Says the lady who can't remember anything!" Jack cried, his tone almost accusatory.

Sam turned to look at him, her eyes half lidded. "Oh, I remember some things, _Jack_."

Janet was the only one in the room beside Sam who caught the cat-who-got-the-canary grin on Jack's face. Rolling her eyes, the petite doctor turned to Daniel and General Hammond. "Alright, gentlemen, I think these two could use some time alone. So if you don't mind…"

"Of course," Hammond nodded, then turned his head to call back over his shoulder. "Colonel, Major, when you're feeling up to it I'd like as much of a debriefing as you can manage."

"Yes, sir!" Jack called. "Give us a couple hours, we'll be ready."

"Good." Hammond strode out of the infirmary, followed by Daniel.

Janet walked over to the table between their beds and began slowly collecting her papers. "So…did you two have fun in the center of the universe?"

"So, Doc," Jack shot back. "Did you have fun being carried back to Earth by Danny-boy?"

"Hah, Colonel, I was unconscious. I don't remember anything."

"Funny," Jack turned to look at Sam. "That's exactly what Sam said."

Janet had all her papers scooped up by then and turned to walk away, shooting them a coy look. "Well…the two of you must have been doing _something_ for those two weeks."

"That's none of your beeswax, doc!"

Janet chuckled, then leaned over and whispered something in Sam's ear.

Sam looked outraged. "You…Napoleonic power monger!"

"Oh ho! Someone's been taking lessons from her CO," Janet narrowed her eyes at Sam as she backed away. "Watch it, missy, or I'll actually follow through with that threat." She grinned and vanished into her office.

Jack blinked at Sam. "What'd she threaten you with?"

"Oh…" Sam blushed, looking down and fiddling awkwardly with her blanket. "Pregnancy test."

Jack snorted and the two fell silent for a few minutes. Sam pretended to be suddenly preoccupied with her hair, but she was really trying to think of something to say to Jack that could even begin to cover all the emotions swirling in her chest. Gratitude, love, confusion, overwhelming joy and worry all at the same time, all mixed into one. And the sad realization that now they were back on Earth things might have to go back to the way they were.

"Sir…" She said quietly.

Jack looked at her and shook his head. "Sam, please."

"Thank you." She looked up at him, blue eyes wide and earnest.

"Hey," Jack smiled. "Anytime. Really. If you ever need me to carry you to the center of the universe and make sweet, sweet love to you beneath the branches of the Tree of Life…I'm there…"

Sam laughed, blushing and looking down. "My dad's gonna kill you."

" 'Ey! You're alive and healthy, ol Jacob should be happy."

"Oh, I am happy about that," said a voice from the doorway. "Doesn't mean I'm not going to kill you."

"Dad!" Sam's face went pale. "You just…heard…"

"Yes, I did just hear that…" Jacob said, then he smiled a rather forced looking smile as he walked over and gave Sam a kiss on the forehead. "Good to see you, kiddo, you're looking great…I was so happy when Dr. Fraiser told me you were all better." He turned to glare at Jack. "You!"

"Hey!" Jack waggled a finger. "I just carried your daughter to the _center of the universe_. The center of the universe, Jake! Do you know how far that is?"

"Well…" Sam said timidly. "You didn't exactly carry me _all_ the way…Jack…"

"Huh. Try telling that to my knees."

"You kids," Jacob said, rolling his eyes and laughing quietly. He turned to Jack. "Really, Jack, I don't think there's any way I could thank you fully for saving Sam's life."

Jack looked up at him. "Not killing me is a start." He leaned around to look at Sam. "Hey, Sam, if you're feeling up to it maybe we should go do that debriefing now, get it out of the way."

"Yeah, sure," Sam nodded and they both slowly got to their feet.

* * *

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Jack went to wait outside the women's locker room for Sam. He found himself standing in the hall with his yo-yo for about twenty minutes before Sam came out, hair dried and in a ponytail, and a sour expression on her face.

"That's it," she said as they started walking. "I'm so having Janet chop this all off tonight."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Why? I kinda like it."

"Do you want to wash it everyday then?" Sam snapped, scowling at him. "It takes a ridiculous amount of time! And then blow drying it-!" she shook her head.

"Yeah, but look…" Jack stepped in front of her, holding his hands up to stop her. Reaching behind her head he pulled her hair out of its ponytail, then brushed it down so it was hanging in front of her face. "Now you look like Cousin It's hot blonde sister!"

Sam growled and pulled her hair back, glaring at Jack. "You know that thing called sex? If you ever want to have it again with _anyone_, Jack, I'd suggest you don't do that."

"Sorry." Jack stared meekly down at his shoes.

They were both overjoyed when they reached the briefing room to find Teal'c there waiting for them, perfectly uninjured.

"Teal'c!" Sam cried, rushing over to throw her arms around the large Jaffa. "You got back alright."

"Indeed," Teal'c smiled, bowing slightly as they stepped apart. "I am most pleased to see you well again, Major Carter."

"Thanks, T." Sam smiled.

They took their seats and were joined moments later by General Hammond, Daniel and Janet. Over the next couple hours the group recounted the strange journey, though, notably, Jack left out several of the more private details towards the end.

"Amazing." Daniel said, awestruck, leaning back in his chair. "This has got to be one of our greatest accomplishments. And yet…you don't have a shred of evidence…no pictures…not a single artifact."

"We do have Major Carter." Teal'c pointed out.

"T's right," Jack said, nodding. "We do have Sam, and that's what's important. But, Danny, what'd Sam mean? That whole thing she said about 'I am your Eve, I am your…' "

"…Isis, your Freyja your Asherah, I am your Sam?" Sam finished and Jack nodded.

"Well," Daniel leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "Those are all goddesses, obviously, except Sam. You know who Eve and Isis are. Freyja is one of the most loved Norse goddesses. We know the Asgard Fey_er_, he's her twin brother."

"And Asherah?" Jack asked.

"Oh, she's the mother goddess of Canaanite mythology." Daniel smirked. "Ironically according to some sources she's also Baal's mother."

"Funny!" Jack grinned and elbowed Sam, who rolled her eyes.

"My question for you, Colonel and you, Major, is are you going to want to return to normal duty on SG-1?" Hammond asked. "I'm assuming that after a period of recovery you'll feel up to it."

Jack took a deep breath. "Uhm, sir, actually I'd like to talk to you about that, in privet, if we can."

Hammond nodded. "Very well. Let's step into my office."

Giving Sam a long look Jack rose to his feet and followed Hammond out of the briefing room. After closing the door Jack took a seat across from the general.

"What can I do for you, Colonel?" Hammond asked, folding his hands.

"Well, sir, I don't really know where to start," Jack said. He was staring down at his shoes, avoiding Hammond's gaze. "Obviously there are certain things I left out of my retelling. You see…this is one of those things that you can't go through with someone without falling madly in love with them."

"I understand that," Hammond said, smiling faintly. "So what do you propose we do about it?"

"Sir, I love my job," Jack looked up at the general, brow furrowed slightly. "But I love Sam even more. And if being with her means giving up my job…I'll just have to do that."

"I don't think it's going to have to come to that, Colonel," Hammond was almost grinning now. "Honestly, you have too much faith in our government. You of all people should know there's always a loophole when you need one."

Jack could feel a grin growing on his own face. "A loophole, sir? I like the sound of that."

"I thought you might." Hammond chuckled. "Right now, Colonel, my suggestion is that you take Major Carter on a nice, restful vacation and leave me to worry about the loopholes. We'll work something out."

But Jack's expression had changed slightly. "With all due respect, sir, why are you doing this?"

"For one you saved the life of someone who's very important to this base," Hammond replied. "And for another, you _are_ someone who's very important to this base. You and Major Carter are invaluable, and in my opinion that warrants bending a few rules if the need arises."

Jack was slowly getting to his feet. "Thank you, sir."

Hammond nodded. "Anytime, Colonel. You're dismissed."

Sam was the only one waiting for Jack as he stepped back into the briefing room. She got to her feet and hurried over to him, eyes wide and questioning.

"Well? What'd you guys talk about?"

"All in good time, dearie," Jack said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they headed out into the all. "All in good time. Now, Hammond has given us the week off and I think it's my turn to pick where we go."

"Ooh, I know what's coming…" Sam said.

"Fishing, Sam! Fishing in Minnesota with the loons and the lakes and the star spangled nights…" Jack pulled her closer to him. "You'll love it. And you're not cutting your hair until we get back."

"What?! Why?"

Jack turned to face her. "Because I like running my fingers through it. It's silky. Good enough for ya? Good. Now we have errands to run…I believe you are sadly lacking in fishing gear…"

Sam couldn't help but laugh as Jack continued to prattle on all the way to the elevators. Despite it all, despite everything they'd been through it always seemed to end like this; with them finding something to be happy about. And stepping onto the elevator with Jack at her side then leaning into his touch as his hand somehow snuggled its way into her hair, Sam realized that she had _a lot _to be happy about.


	10. Epilogue

A/N – Yeah, so I got a couple requests for something like this…so here ya go! Now I swear I'm done with this story, because I have to move on to my next one… :P

* * *

Epilogue

The bright northern sun shone down, reflecting off the snow and giving the world a bright, clear look. Jack sat for a few minutes on the edge of his bed, staring out the window, entranced by the sight of the frozen lake and the snow covered pines. Finally he stood, putting a robe on over his pajamas and walking out of the bedroom.

The eastward facing window over the sink was letting in long beams of the wintry light and as Jack stood there in the doorway he felt his heart skip a beat. Sam was standing with her hands resting on the edge of the counter, staring out the window with a thoughtful expression on her face. Her long hair, which shone in the light from the window, hadn't been brushed yet and hung in a shaggy cascade about her shoulders.

Jack smiled, walking over and standing behind Sam, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"You're up," Sam said, leaning back against him and covering his hands with hers.

"Uhuh," Jack rested his cheek against hers. "You got up pretty early, Sam, couldn't you sleep?"

She shook her head. "The baby was kicking. Here…" she took his hand and pressed it to the swell of her stomach, and Jack laughed softly when he felt the slight pressure beneath his hand. He turned his head to press a kiss to her cheek and Sam grinned. "Selmak said our baby's going to be special…"

"Well, yeah, it was conceived under the Tree of Life, for cryin' out loud." They turned and walked over to the kitchen table, where Jack pulled a chair out for Sam and helped her sit. "Besides, it's the progeny of two amazingly awesome people, why wouldn't it be special?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah, that's true too."

Jack sat down across from her, reaching over to take her hand. He looked down, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, then lightly fingering the gold band on her ring finger. He looked up and caught the thoughtful expression on her face. "Whatcha thinkin' about?"

"Oh, nothing," Sam shrugged. "Just the other night while you were out doing errands there was this movie on, and there was a character in it who had the Tree of Life tattooed on her back. So I was thinking…"

"No! No tattoos. Bad Sam."

Sam broke out giggling. "_What?_ Did you seriously just say…" she spluttered, "I'm not a dog, Jack!"

"Shush before I make a complete idiot of myself." Jack said, scowling a little. He stood up, rolling his eyes as he strode out of the kitchen. Sam was about to get up and follow when Jack returned with a hairbrush, walking so he was standing behind her chair. "What'd I do to deserve you?" he murmured, gently running the brush through her hair, letting the golden strands slip between his fingers.

"You saved my life, for one…" Sam said, closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair.

Jack nodded, then was silent for a few minutes as he finished brushing her hair. When he was done he let the brush fall to the table. Then walked around and knelt before Sam, taking her hands in his and staring up into her eyes with a serious expression.

"This isn't real, is it?"

"Jack, stop." Sam stared back into his eyes. "You can't doubt this. You can't."

"I know, but this is just too much…"

"Jack…" Sam took his hand, guiding it under her shirt to rest on the bare skin of her stomach. The baby kicked again. "Does this feel real to you?"

"Yeah." A smile spread across Jack's face and he stood to place a lingering kiss on his wife's lips. "It feels very real."


End file.
